Any preferences out there among you acoustic sliders? And why? I keep switching back and forth on my National--can't make up my mind. I guess that's OK; variety is the spice of life. Anyway, I was just curious about what others here thought about it....

I prefer open G, but am trying to learn more open D. Most acoustic Allman tunes are in open G- Pony Boy, Come on in my Kitchen (RJ), If I Had Possession (RJ), Goin' Down the Road Feelin Bad (Trad), Blues at Midnight

Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

quote:Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

I thought that DADGBD was called double dropped D, and that DGDGBD was open G. Learn something new everyday I guess.

quote:Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

I am talking about "Pony Boy", original studio version on the Brothers and Sisters album. I have the CD here, just played along with it: Key of E.

quote:Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

I thought that DADGBD was called double dropped D, and that DGDGBD was open G. Learn something new everyday I guess.

quote:Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

I am talking about "Pony Boy", original studio version on the Brothers and Sisters album. I have the CD here, just played along with it: Key of E.

On electric, in the 70's, Dickey probably only used open-E for slide.

"Long Haired Country Boy" has Dickey playing slide Dobro in open-D.

Open-G is: DGDGBD.

There are certain slide licks Dickey plays in Pony Boy, Blues at Midnight, Come On In My Kitchen, that are trademark slide licks for open G, one being

quote:Actually I am pretty sure Dickey used open G for Pony Boy, GDTRFB, Come On In My Kitchen, Blues at Midhnight, If I Had Possession. Dickey did not play open D or E for slide as far as I can tell. Even now when he plays Come On In My Kitchen withGreat Southern it is with a Strat in Open G- DADGBD

I thought that DADGBD was called double dropped D, and that DGDGBD was open G. Learn something new everyday I guess.

My bad. You're absolutely right. DGDGBD.

No problem, I figured it was an inadvertent error, or typo.

How do you tune to open D?

I do something more for alternative music, Low to high DADADE Depending on the song, I may tune the high E to D (or F#)

I get the feeling that's not how everyone else does it.

Do the Grateful Dead use a double dropped D tuning when they play GDTRFB?

quote:Do the Grateful Dead use a double dropped D tuning when they play GDTRFB?

No, absolutely not - they played it in standard tuning in the key of E. I am very familiar with the Dead's catalog being I saw them live over 80 times or so and have listened to them consistently for 30 years. The Dead played virtually everything in standard tuning prety much all the time - with maybe one or two exceptions.

As was pointed out, The ABB played GDTRFB in G...not D, in case that wasn't clear. Just clarifying...

quote:There are certain slide licks Dickey plays in Pony Boy, Blues at Midnight, Come On In My Kitchen, that are trademark slide licks for open G

I am familiar with the live acoustic set the ABB would do with Dickey Betts in the 1990's. Dickey would play several songs in a row all on a little old Gibson acoustic tuned to open-G. "Pony Boy" may have been played in G for that medley, but that is not how it was done originally on Brothers and Sisters, where "Pony Boy" is in open-E on a resonator guitar.

quote:There are certain slide licks Dickey plays in Pony Boy, Blues at Midnight, Come On In My Kitchen, that are trademark slide licks for open G

I am familiar with the live acoustic set the ABB would do with Dickey Betts in the 1990's. Dickey would play several songs in a row all on a little old Gibson acoustic tuned to open-G. "Pony Boy" may have been played in G for that medley, but that is not how it was done originally on Brothers and Sisters, where "Pony Boy" is in open-E on a resonator guitar.

Pony Boy isn't on the Rhett Foundation all acoustic Allman Brothers album. However there are many bootlegs out there with acoustic sit-down sets from the 90's with Jack Pearson where they bust out this tune. I dare not say ALL of the sets for sure, but most of the ones I have heard I can say he played it fairly regularly in open G. I am not try to counter your point as much as to say I wonder if the Brothers & Sisters version was slowed down to E, much like Blue Sky was altered on Eat A Peach to a different key.

quote: I am not try to counter your point as much as to say I wonder if the Brothers & Sisters version was slowed down to E, much like Blue Sky was altered on Eat A Peach to a different key.

I would doubt that very much Slowhand. That would mean slowing down the recording an entire step and a half which would defeat the purpose when you could just record in a different key. The "Blue Sky" or "Ramblin Man" speed-altering that we have spoken about here is altered only slightly faster than it was actually recorded in - less than a half step. MY guess is, Dickey preferred the key of G for "Pony Boy" just like he did "Blue Sky" which was also changed to G many years ago...

One thing I appreciate about these tunings is that, as Bob Brozman puts it, "every fingering position you figure out in D tuning will work in G tuning, one string further towards the treble." http://www.bobbrozman.com/tip_opentune.html

'Preciate the tabs, Slowhand. I've always loved that medley of COIMK, GDTRFB, and Mama He Treats Your Daugher Mean performed by Delaney and Bonnie, with Duane sitting in. I've been working out my own version of this in Open D. I'm gonna compare the licks in Open G that you've shown.

I simply tune my guitar to itself whenever tuning from oG to oD or vice versa (I never play in standard). Since the 4th string open is D in each tuning, I use it as the constant starting point and work outward from there to the other strings:

quote:MY guess is, Dickey preferred the key of G for "Pony Boy" just like he did "Blue Sky" which was also changed to G many years ago...

I think a lot of it is a matter of convenience too. Dickey is playing a bunch of acoustic songs in a set in the key of G, using open-G tuning. He transposes the key of what may be his signature original acoustic song from the early days. Also play "Pony Boy" in G with the other acoustic slide songs and there is no retuning or switching guitars in between.

The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND name, The ALLMAN BROTHERS name, likenesses, logos, mushroom design and peach truck are all registered trademarks of THE ABB MERCHANDISING CO., INC. whose rights are specifically reserved. Any artwork, visual, or audio representations used on this web site CONTAINING ANY REGISTERED TRADEMARKS are under license from The ABB MERCHANDISING CO., INC. A REVOCABLE, GRATIS LICENSE IS GRANTED TO ALL REGISTERED PEACH CORP MEMBERS FOR The DOWNLOADING OF ONE COPY FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. ANY DISTRIBUTION OR REPRODUCTION OF THE TRADEMARKS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE PROHIBITED AND ARE SPECIFICALLY RESERVED BY THE ABB MERCHANDISING CO.,INC.